Episode 5.19

“Hammer of the Gods” ReviewBy Amanda Rebholz

To be honest, I think the credo for Supernatural should be “Don’t get attached to anyone on this show, because everyone you love will die.” Whether it’s watching them go out in brave blazes of glory like Pam, Ellen and Jo, heroic last acts like John Winchester and Samuel Campbell, or tragic twists of fate like Sam and Dean (all of the times), you never get used to seeing the people you’ve come to love die on-screen. This season has taken some of the most important players out of the game; we’ve lost the Harvelles, angels, archangels, and demons alike. We’ve been heartbroken and had our hopes dashed time and time again.

But perhaps none of us were prepared to lose one beloved character twice in one night. Thank you, Supernatural, for proving us wrong.

From his first appearance in ‘Tall Tales,’ the Trickster has been one of my favorite characters, almost on a level with the Winchester boys themselves honestly. I was a fan of the Loki/Trickster mythology long before I ever became a Supernatural fan, and having him portrayed by a charming, talented actor like Richard Speight Jr. only validated my love, but when the twist was revealed in ‘Changing Channels’ that our adored mischief-maker was also the archangel Gabriel I was totally suckerpunched. Ever since that episode I’ve been wondering when we’d see him again, that silver-tongued bastard with his love for sweets and practical jokes. The moment I saw the trailer for this episode, I knew that he would be involved, and couldn’t hold back the little cheer inside.

This episode was wonderfully cast; as a fan of the old mythology and pagan gods (and if you ARE a fan of such things, I recommend reading ‘American Gods’ and ‘Anansi Boys’ by Neil Gaiman, both of which are amazing at portraying the old gods in modern times), I was stoked to see Kali and the others represented so beautifully. The idea was very good— we’ve dealt with pagan gods before on the show, many of them, and they are always prideful and angry at being rendered obsolete by their followers. It only makes sense that they’d try to take out Lucifer or Michael themselves.

From the solid acting and excellent effects work to the great writing and lovely appearance by our old pal Lucifer, this episode was a hit all around. I especially loved Gabriel’s fake-out death (I’ll admit, I gasped and was absolutely devastated… then laughing my ass off when he appeared in the backseat of the Impala) and when he decided to stand up and sass Lucifer in the face of death. Sure, Loki got a little cocky at the end and didn’t think that Lucifer would see his trick coming, but his effort was more than valiant. From a beloved trickster to a dazzling archangel, our Gabriel got an excellent send-off. And the Casa Erotica bit at the end was hilarious and wonderful, and made me bounce in my seat. FINALLY we have a plan, and finally it’s a tangible one that CAN be done. If anyone can defeat the other two Horsemen, it’s our boys.

Although Bobby has a point… how are they going to beat Death at his own game?